Capping machine



June '13, 1944. MAIR 2,351,349

CAPPING MACHINE Filed March 23, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 June 13, 1944. A

CAPPING MACHINE Filed March 25. 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN V EN TOR. 11 TvMaiw June 13, 1944. H. MAIR CAPPING MACHINE 4' Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed March 23, 1944 IN V EN TOR.

Patented June 13, 1944 Distillers .flompany Limited, Linden, N. J., a summation of Delaware ennli an nM rch 23, 1944,;ser 1 rm. 527,583

7 Claims.

'fillhis intention relates to improvements in hottle capping machines, the principal object of the invention being to r vide a machine of this character in which the canning operation is tomatically controlled by electrical mean the vactuation 19f vwhich is initiated by the container as it passes ,into position tobe..sealed. Y

A further object er invention is to provide a machine specially adapted for sealing .containr ers having lever-type closures, the machine being equipped with automatically operative lever-actuating mechan sm- A further object of the vim/ention is to simplify the general construction of a machine of the the lower end :of said vhopper being in comm-unigation with a chute the delivery end of which is disposed in position to deliver one can to each bottle as the latter is passing into position toghe capped. a

In front of the machine -.:frame are disposed a paireofiendless.conveyorebelts third 1 traveling on pulleys or rollers-8 and 9 respectively mounted for rotationflon-stud shafts .10 and H supported in two of the upright machine frame members. The conveyor belt 6 carries the filled :bottlesinto position to be capped and the belt 1 receives the bottles afterthe cappin o ration has been com-- pleted and carries away :to be packed for character set forth and at thesame-time to prohip ent. Y FYQr this purp c h iwlleys 1 -:and vide a machine which- 1's time-sayin andeccnomare spaced apartiasufiicient distanceto permit a ital in voperatic: and-or maximum'productive cawork tabl 12 to besecuredentire-machine frame pagity, between the belts :with-the top surface (of theateother objects d advant es .of .the invention D :in the same horizontal g l ne as the tQPrSllr- W n appea -M me iis sflript'ion proceeds. faces of thefbelts, the opposite sides of the table In (the drawings accompanying this ,specific being bevelled below soasto permit ;them t -pa-rtion, tially overlie the pulleys 8 and 9. The belts are Eig, 1 1s ajron't elevation of ,a, machin e maintained in horizontal position by pairs of structe d in accordance with the present inven- L-shaped supporting members 13 bolted to the t 2!; machine frame at opposite sides of the pulleys -8 Fig. 2 is a side filevation of themachine shown in Fig. '1.

Fig. Bis aside elevation showingcn a larger ale th c ism v-oshown in i 2 and .also

idle position.

Fig. 8 is aside view similar to Fig, 3 but showing the capping and :jlevereclamping operation mp ete s' d and B. ,At a suitable distance .above the work table ,,l2,,.de pending on the height of the bottle to be capped, an L-shaped guide bar 14 is secured to the .frame of the machine, along-thesideedge sh wing a conta ne n t flapping position :m of which bar the necks of the bottles are guided ready tor the cap compressing Operation. d ing v1 1 11 pa sage to and from-the work table.

Land 5. 76 sect onal-p an views taken Ion h a p n fi fi i m P oper WilL-l'lOW be dethe lines 4-! an 5.-'5 espectivelv of Big. 3, scribed: looking in the direction indicated by thearrows, At someodistancei above the work table .12 atop Fig-615a view of the m achine showing a, plate 1| 5 -(Figs.,3 {and 3) is secured to tthe upri-ghts completely gapp ed b etl t ne ide .of the capof the machine frame and projects out over the ping platform and an uncapped bottle at the up.- work tab sai plate havingan opening -in which posite side thereof. is v Q .1 ec1 for ve t a ing movement a spin- ,Fig. 7 is a rear elfivationlof-the machineshow- 1 Stem 5 r in atits lower end acapping m th plunger mature Qf th solenoid i th 40 head I] .inyerticaloalinementwith the center-of the work table 1.2. The-stem 16 carries a pluralcity of l8 resting on the cappin :head whereby the latter is normally urged toward its lowermost position. For moving the capping Fig, 9 i a diagrammatic view of he W ing syse fia v nd its weights upward a lever formed of tem. wo bars .19 fulcrurned at 20 on a bracket earned Th ame j TQIQ m cha ers esignate the by the machine frame is pivoted at its :front end same parts in the different figures of :the drawrtothe capping head. as shown at 2|, sai g v being extended rearwardly through the machine l Referr ing now indetai l to the drawings, Idesframe. On the rear ofthe macmneqframe atthe t the up ght st ndardsend \2 the stays {or brac .m m spowi lli in th i am of the ma: chine, while the transverse members of the ,frame ar d signate Attm t f the i em is su p ted. a homer-51m t e reten n f T ei e wa unperpart thereof is halted aisolencid 22 having a depending plunger 23 provided with a --sl0t-;,;Z4 through which passes a pin ;-25 .to which are secured the rearmost ,ends' of the lever bars 4,9; at

55 opposite sidesof the plungeriasshown in Figsjfi of the lever l9 through the pin and slot connection 24, is sufficient normally to overbalance the capping head l1 and its weights l8 and thereby maintain them in the uppermost position as best shown in Fig, 3.

Mounted for sliding movement from front to rear of the machine frame is a slide-bar having at its forward end a cam nose 3| that 'normally extends out beyond the guide bar i|4 into;

the path of the tops or necks of the bottles as they pass on itothe platform |2 (seeFig l) to have a cap compressed on the successivebottles. The slide-bar 30 'is normally retained in the forward position by the tension of a spring 32 secured at one end to the machine frameand at its opposite end'to' a stud'or lug33 secured inthe slide bar at its underside (-see Figs. 3 and 8). Near its rear end 'the'slide bar30 has formed on its underside a thickened or block portion 34 adapted to engage a horizontally disposed lever 35 pivoted at 36 (Figs. '4 and 5) on one of the transverse frame members of the machine. The said lever 35 carries at its further end an adjustable contact pin 31 adapted when the lever is swun in one direction to engage and operate a microswitch 38 into circuit closing position. At its opposite end the lever 35 'is provided'with a second adjustable pin 3 9'for limiting the swinging movement of the lever. Supported at any convenient point on the machine frame is a magnetic switch 4|! of any well-known conventional type, the;purpose of which will appear as the descriptionproceeds. t Referring now to the wiring diagram shown in Fig. 9, thefmicro-switch 38;'is*'connected. by wires 4| and 42directly through main line wires 43 and 44 with a suitable source of current (not shown), the said main line wiresbeing also connected to terminals 45 and 46 of the magnetic switch 40. Two opposite terminals 41 and 48 of the magnetic switch are connected by wires 49 and 50 with the solenoid 22. The magnetic switch is provided with the usual magnetic coil indicated at 5| and circuit closing elements 52 and 53 for bridgingthe gaps between terminals 45-41 and46--48. With thisarrangement it will be obvious that when the micro-switch 38 is operated into circuit-closing position current willflow therethrough and through the coil 5| of the mag netic switchthereby energizing said coil and causing the elements 52, 53 to swing into circuit-closing position so that current will now flow directly through the solenoid 22 thus energizing the same and causing its plunger armature23 to rise with a quick movement, thus permitting descent of the capping pressure head I] under pressureo'frthe weights I8. I

Returning now to thegmechanical operation of themachine it is to be understood that. the con veyor'6 will be loaded with acont'inuous succession of filled bottles placed side by sideion the conveyor and as the conveyor travels the foremost bottle (as for instance thebottle shown at the left in Fig. will be pushed on to the table |2 by' the succeeding. bottles. As each bottle passes from the conveyor 6 on to the table l2 the neck of the bottle engages the cam nose 3| of slide bar 38 and pushes the latter back so that its block 34 engages the lever 35 and swings said lever on its pivot thereby setting the micro-switch 38 in circuit-closing position and initiating the operation of the magnetic switch 40 and solenoid 22 as above described.

The pressure head H has formed thereon a pair of slotted ears 55 between which is guided a depending tongue 56 pivoted at 51 to the lower end of a link 58 which itself is pivoted at 59 between the front ends of bars 68 forming a lever fulcrumed at 6| on the machine frame, the rearward ends of said bars being also pivoted to a block 62 from which depends a stem 63 which is guided through an opening in a bracket 64 secured to the plunger 23 of the solenoid 22. The

stem 63 is provided with a head 65 at its lower end for limiting the movement of said block with relation to the bracket 64. "The slots in the ears 55 are inthe nature of cam slots and the depending tongue 56 is provided with a pair of pintles or guide pins '66,,one 'at each side'of said tongue, traversing said slots, as does also the pivot 51, so that duringthe 'operationof'the l'ever'60, the tongue 56 is moved from the 'positionshown in Fig.- 3 to the position shown in Fig, 8, during which movement it has shifted the bottle-caplever to the clamping position shown in said Fig.8.

It is believed that the operation of th machine will be clear from the foregoing description. As each successive bottle on the conveyor 6 arrives at theposition shown inFig. 6that is to say,"approximately half of the diameter of the bottle being over the work table |2-the top of the bottle passing below the lower endof the cap chute engages the lowermost cap in said chute and carries it along with the bottle to the capping position centrally of the work table. During its passage to said capping position the neck of the bottle engages the cam nose 3| of the slide bar 30 (Figs. 3, 4 and 8) and pushes said bar toward the rear. During its rearward movement the slide bar 38, by means of its block, portion 34, swings the lever 35 on its pivot, thereby causing said lever to actuate the micro-switch 38 into circuit-closing position, whereupon the magnetic switchf4|l and solenoid 22 are brought into operation as already described in connection with Fig. 9. The plunger 23 of the solenoid 22 rises suddenly, thus releasing the lever l9 so that the forward end of saidlever and the capping head |1 attached thereto are moved downward under pressure of the weights 8, thus compressing the cap on the mouth of the bottle. In the meantime, during the upward movement of the solenoid plunger 23, the bracket 64 carried by said plunger has engaged the block 62 to which the rear end of lever 60 is'pivoted and moved said block upward to the position shown in Fig. 8, so that the depending tongue 56 at the forward end of.said lever has engaged and swung the cap-lever into clamping position on the bottle,

, thus completing the capping and clamping operation.

During the upward movement of the plunger 23, its disc 26 has also engaged the rear end of the slide bar 30 and raised it so that its block portion 34 releases the lever 35 and permits the latter to swing. under tension of its spring 54 so as to disengage the micro-switch 38 and permit the latterl to return to its normal open-circuit position, the slide barl 38 havingin the meantime'been caused to slide forward under tension of its spring 32 thereby carrying the cam nose 3| of the slide bar into position to be engaged by the next succeeding bottle on the conveyor 6.

It will be understood that all of the operations above described occur within the infinitesimal period of time required for the movement of the foremost bottle on the conveyor 6 into capping position on the work table, said movement being caused by the pushing effect of the succeeding bottles on the conveyor 6, which pushing effect continues to exert itself on the capped bottles until they are successively moved from the work table l2 on to the discharge conveyor 1.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a capping machine, a container-support. a vertically reciprocable capping head above said support, pressure means for moving said head toward the container-support, means including a member movably connected with the head and effective against the action of said pressure means to maintain the head in uppermost position, an electromagnet having an armature associated with said movable member for moving the same thereby to release the head for movement to capping position under the action of said pressure means, a container-actuated trip to energize said electromagnet, and means actuated by movement of the head in capping direction to deenergize the electromagnet.

2. In a capping machine, a container-support a vertically reciprocable capping head above said support, weights associated with said head and efiective to move the same toward the containersupport, means including a weight movably connected with the head and effective against the action of said first weights to maintain the head in uppermost position, an electromagnet having an armature associated with said movable weight for moving the same thereby to release the head for movement to capping position under the action of said first weights, a container-actuated trip to energize said electromagnet, and means actuated by movement of the head in capping direction to deenergize the electromagnet.

3. In a capping machine, a container-support, a capping head mounted for vertical reciprocation above said support, pressure means associated with said head for moving it toward the container-support, a fulcrumed lever pivoted at one end to said capping head, movable means acting on the opposite end of the lever to depress the same thereby to maintain the capping head in uppermost position against the action of said pressure means, an electromagnet having an armature associated with said movable means for moving the same away from said lever thereby to release the head for movement to capping position under the action of said pressure means, a container-actuated trip to energize said electromagnet, and means actuated by movement of the head in capping direction to deenergize the electromagnet.

4. In a capping machine, a container-support, a capping head mounted for vertical reciprocation above said support, pressure means associated with said head for moving it toward the container-support, a fulcrumed lever pivoted at one end to said capping head, an electromagnet having a weighted armature acting on the opposite end of said lever to depress the same thereby to maintain the capping head in uppermost position against the action of said pressure means, said armature being movable relatively to the lever thereby to release the head for movement to capping position under the action of said pressure means, a container-actuated trip to energize said electromagnet, and means actuated by movement of the head in capping direction to deenergize the electromagnet.

5. In a capping machine as set forth in claim 1, means carried by the capping head and actuated by the movement of said armature for swinging the lever of a lever-type cap into clamping position on arrival of the capping head at capping position.

6. In a capping machine as set forth in claim 1, means carried by the capping head to engage and swing the lever of a lever-type cap into clamping position, a fulcrumed lever pivoted to said cap-lever engaging means, and cooperating means carried by said lever and armature for actuating said cap-lever engaging means on arrival of the capping head at capping position.

7. In a capping machine as set forth in claim 1, the container-actuated trip comprising a slidable member having a cam portion projecting into the path of a container, said member being slidable by the container as it passes on to said container-support and a micro-switch actuated by said slidable member to close a circuit through said electromagnet.

HUGH MAIR. 

